I have a wide range of music that I enjoy, and one of my favorite performers was the legendaryBing Crosby. I originally enjoyed his work in such films as The Bells of Saint Mary’s, and I grew to enjoy his unique singing style.

Bing was born Harry Crosby in 1903. His unique nickname, Bing, was picked up from a comic strip he loved in the Tacoma local papers. He had a far ranging career spanning many decades. His original singing career started in high school, where he sang with a jazz band. When he went to college, he kept up his hobby, eventually teaming up with a chap named Al Rinker. They were quite popular, to the point where they decided to try to make a career out of jazz singing. They left college and went into show business.

Eventually, they found work with another gent named Harry Barris, who teamed up to form The Rhythm Boys. Paul Whiteman, a famous music entertainer producer, signed them, and The Rhythm Boys became a big hit. They recorded such tunes as Mississippi Mud and eventually appeared in a 1930 movie called The King of Jazz, which gave Bing the acting bug.

As technology improved, singers could begin to sing without straining their voices to be heard in the back of music halls. Bing developed a unique, laid-back style that was eventually the standard for crooning, or singing as though you were singing to one individual. He had a very good ear for music, and he had a good idea of what the audience wanted.

One problem that songwriters had with Bing is that he sang the song the way he wanted it to be sung, not according to how the music was written. Eventually, many of his top hits were so associated with Bing’s unique style that the song became almost useless for other singers to cover.

His affinity for jazz had him rubbing shoulders with the great musicians of the jazz era, such as Louis Armstrong and Harry and James Dorsey. This brought him to the forefront of the American popular music scene. It has been said that Bing’s popularity was due to his singing style, which made it seem that almost anyone could sing and croon like him.

Bing branched out into some character acting, scoring major success with his best friend, the late Bob Hope, in the Road movies. Thanks to his years of jazz singing, Bing had a great sense of timing and was a natural straight man to Hope’s funny guyroutines. His character actor roles included such classic films as White Christmas and Going My Way.

When Bing and Bob were not on a stage, they were out working on their other passion, golfing. Bing tragically died while playing a round of golf in Madrid, Spain in 1977. When Bob Hope heard of the death of his best friend, he cancelled a show at Radio City Music Hall – the first time Bob had ever cancelled a show.